Blake Lively had a velvet manicure for her wedding, but would you try furry nails? After caviar, leather and concrete, soft and fuzzy is 2013's hottest trend in textured fingertips

An explosion of fake fur has hit the High Street - hoods, bags and winter boots - and now you can get it on your nails, too.

MUAMakeup Academy has just launched a fur-effect nail product in five colours, each £3, which when sprinkled over wet polish makes them look soft and fluffy to touch.

'Whether you are going for a fun feel or a luxury look, these textured nails are perfect,' says the marketing spiel. The website shows fingernails that look wrapped in velvet - or if you're more cynical, fuzzy felt.

Blake Lively had a velvet manicure for her wedding, but would you try furry nails? After caviar, leather and concrete, soft and fuzzy is 2013's hottest trend in textured fingertips

Famous fans of textured nail varnish looks - which have previously resembled caviar, leather and even concete -
looks include Blake Lively, who wore velvet nails on her wedding day
with Ryan Reynolds, Rihanna, Katy Perry and, of course, fashion muse
Alexa Chung.

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I put my doubts aside to give it a try. As per the instructions, I buff and file my natural nails then apply a base coat. Next, I pick a polish to match the microfibre sprinkles.

Blake Lively wore velvet nails at her wedding to Ryan Reynolds

I go for Fluff And Cuddles, a shade more accurately described as 'raspberry'. I attempt to shake the Nail Fluff through the sieve in the lid of the pot, but in the end I pull the sifter out and press each freshly painted nail into the 'fur'.

The fluff is similar in texture to loft insulation: 100 per cent synthetic and crackling with static. I wait 30 seconds before brushing away any excess, then another 30 seconds before touching.

In one long minute, my dressing table is
covered in excess fuzz. It sticks to my fingers, exaggerating every
crease and crinkle of my knuckles.

I may be sporting a youthful,
fun-loving nail trend, but I seem to have the gnarly, reddened hands of
a 70-something fisherman. I needn't have worried about painting my
nails neatly, because the fluff gives a soft, smudgy finish.

I had hoped it would create a luxurious fake-fur finish but this was too much to ask.

The
finger fuzz is patchy, like fur on an overloved teddy bear. Though I
can't imagine who on earth might love this nail art this much. Or
indeed, at all.

I attempt to top up the bald
patches by dipping them back into the pot, but the polish is no longer
tacky enough to hold the fluff, and it sheds everywhere.

'In one long minute, my dressing table is
covered in excess fuzz. It sticks to my fingers, exaggerating every
crease and crinkle of my knuckles'

My iPhone
screen looks like it has a rash and I have to cover my laptop keyboard
with clingfilm to stop fibres creeping into the keys.

Later,
I peel a clementine and, though I could be imagining it, I think some
sprinkles come off on it. I swallow it and can't stop coughing. Hairy
nails? Just don't.

SOME TEXTURED NAIL TRENDS OF 2012

It's a sell out: Alexa Chung's leather nails by
Nails Inc sold out in seconds after she was spotted wearing the polish
at the British Fashion Awards

Caviar nails? So 2012, darling. This year it's all about crushed velvet fingertips. Ciate Caviar (pictured)

Nails Inc launched 'concrete' nail polish, £12 bottles available from
Selfridges in neutral 'London Wall', a deep red 'Marble Arch, a pastel
green named 'Monument', as well as 'Stonehenge'- a vibrant blue hue